Affirming Forever
by RobertDowneyJrLove
Summary: She was his forever-that much was certain. I have had tons of inspiration for this couple :  The stories just pop out :


Anthony Edward Stark. Usually, he's associated with two words-playboy and carelessness. He wouldn't deny it, he also wouldn't deny his fear of commitment, at least where most women were concerned. He couldn't commit to any woman he had ever had a fling with because of fear of losing the only woman who mattered to him-Pepper. Pepper Potts, hired as his personal assistant twelve years prior, had somehow wormed her way into his heart-or arc reactor as his best friend. She knew him as the boozing playboy, who went through women like he went through money-fast and easy, without consideration for the women he had his little flings with. His past was somewhat of a sore spot for both of them-Pepper because she had been there to witness his battles with the bottle, and Tony because he was scared that eventually his colorful past would scare Pepper away.

"Pepper," Tony whispered one night, the credits of the movie they had been watching the only light to illuminate the living room. "Does my past scare you?"

Pepper looked over at him with soft blue eyes and shook her head, "No. Tony if I wasn't scared away seven years ago at your worst, I'm not going to let it scare me now, when you're doing good. Your past is your past and as long as you never revisit it, then we won't have any problems."

The more he thought about it, the more he didn't want to revisit his past. The boozing binges that ended up with him unconscious on whatever the nearest flat surfaces or the holidays that were usually spent in alcohol induced oblivion. The one night stands that usually went absolutely no where, sometimes even ending up with the girl marrying another guy the next day-how that happened, Tony hadn't quite worked it out, but somehow it did.

"I don't want to go back to that," Tony spoke softly as he reached for Pepper's hand, "I couldn't handle it again. Revisiting my past would mean losing you and I can't do that. That's not an option."

Her hand was warm and soft as he slipped it into his larger, rougher hand, seeking reassuring in the soft warmth of the skin. He couldn't remember a time when Pepper had ever let him hold her hand without questions. The barrage of questions that usually got him to open up and admit what was going on so that she could help him through it. He couldn't count on both hands the nights her barrage of questions had ended with them curled up in bed, a glass of wine on the nightstand and Tony spilling all of his problems-not that he minded of course, but he'd much rather skip the questions and just go straight to the bedtime counseling sessions.

"Then, I don't see your past becoming a problem." Pepper smiled as she moved closer to him. Her voice was soft and reassuring erasing any doubts he had about whether or not she would be scared away by his past.

"When I hired you twelve years ago, I never thought we'd make it this long." Tony chuckled softly sliding his arm around her shoulders as she curled into his side. "I thought for sure you'd end up leaving. I never thought that it'd come to the point where I can't live without you."

As he said it, his mind immediately drifted back to every time she had ever cleaned up his mess-one of the bigger mistakes he'll admit to-not cleaning up his own messes. The hangovers, kicking his flings out of the house, the tarnished images and the almost completely destroyed reputation that was left for Pepper to fix. A mess that Pepper cleaned up, when it should have been nursing his self through the hangovers, politely telling his flings that they were just that-a fling and that they wouldn't be seeing each other, fixing his own image and reputation. Instead, Pepper did it all and with the elegance and poise of someone ten years older with much more experience.

"You never thought we'd make it this long? I never thought I'd actually ever call you my best friend." Pepper giggled sweetly, stroking his cheek, "No offense but when we met, you were a little drunk-actually correction, you were so drunk I was wondering if you'd actually remember that you hired me."

"I never forget a pair of eyes, especially yours." Tony grinned warmly, "I was not drunk-I was completely blasted. I was so blasted that I wanted to hire you just for putting up with me the next day. I tend to be a bit of a jerk when I have a hangover."

Pepper giggled as she leaned and a pressed a tender kiss to his cheek, letting it linger before pulling away. The scruffiness of his cheek left a pleasant tingling sensation on her lips that she found herself unable to dislike. His brown eyes looked down, locking with her baby blue orbs, as the world around them slipped away. He cupped her cheek in his hand, gently stroking her cheek with his thumb as he leaned down and kissed her. She brought her hand up to thread in his dark brown hair.

If a perfect kiss existed, Pepper was pretty sure that she was right in the midst of it. She had always loved the way Tony kissed her but something about the way he kissed her when they were alone, after a movie just in the middle of one of their long, deep talks made it seem different. The passion was toned down allowing for more tenderness, which Tony was not hesitant to let show. The soft, almost intimately sweet way he kissed her never ceased to leave her breathless and falling in love with him all over again.

"I don't know if you can fall for someone a thousand times, but I'm pretty sure I just did." Tony whispered when they pulled away from each other, smiling an uncharacteristically tender smile. "I fall in love with you all over again every time we kiss like that."

"I do too." Pepper whispered, "How do you do it?"

"I love you. That's how I do it." Tony whispered sweetly. Pepper felt privileged at being on the receiving end some of Tony's most tender, intimate moments. When they were alone or when he was sure no one could hear him, he let his guard down and the tenderness hiding behind that arc reactor shown through and she was the one that got to witness it, that got to hear some of the tender, less suggestive things he usually said.

Pepper was the only one who was on the receiving end of his tender, intimate way of saying, "I love you." Pepper was usually on the receiving end of his tender kiss, soft touches and some of the more intimate things he did to prove that he loved her. If there was a way to prove to her that he loved her, he would find it and usually, it was something that no one else would think of but Tony. The thought he put into proving his love to her never ceased to amaze her.

"Well it just so happens that I love you too." Pepper smiled up at him. She rested her head on his shoulder, smiling as he wrapped his arms around her. He was warm, comfortable and his soft voice whispering sweet nothings into her ear slowly lulled her into a deep sleep. Tony smiled tenderly as he carefully wrapped his arms around her and stood up, the sleeping woman cradled against his chest.

He carried her up to his bedroom and carefully tucked her into the bed before crawling in beside her, content to just watch her sleep. He carefully traced the light freckles down the bridge of her nose and along her cheekbone, tracing each and every swirl as he went. As he traced her entire face, memorizing every breathtaking feature, he couldn't help but wonder how he had gotten so lucky.

"I don't know how I got so lucky." Tony whispered, unable to believe that he had fallen in love with his best friend and she had felt the same way. "I'm glad I did though. I don't know what I would do without you, Pepper."

Even though she was sleeping and probably couldn't hear him, he kept talking. "I don't know if this relationship is going to be an easy ride, God knows our friendship wasn't. You're still my best friend, you always will be, no matter what happens. I'll always love you, Pepper. I'll always be in love with you, Pepper-no matter what happens."

As she rolled over onto her side and murmured a faint, "I love you", it all became clear for Tony. She was his best friend, his confidante, the only person in the world he'd ever consider dying for and now she was the love of his life. Nothing in his life was ever stable enough that Tony could safely say that it would last forever, but now, in the dark confines of his bedroom as he watched his girlfriend sleep, he knew that this relationship-this woman, was his forever. She was the forever that he was looking for.

Pepper Potts was Tony Stark's forever-that much was certain.

* * *

**Oh my, this was such a fun story to write! Yea, I know it's like the sweetest, sappiest thing ever, but honestly considering all the angst I've been writing for various categories, this was a nice breath of fresh air. To clear things up, I wanted Tony's past to play a part in how he comes to the conclusion that Pepper was his forever. We all know that Tony has a colorful past-to say the least-I just wanted him to ask Pepper for reassurance that his past wouldn't affect their relationship. I wanted that to play the biggest role in how he comes to the conclusion about what or who, rather, his forever is. **

**Love you, **

**RobertDowneyJrLove **


End file.
